PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jason Kidd had 24 points and 12 assists
against his former team as the Phoenix Suns recovered from a
sluggish start to defeat the Dallas Mavericks for the ninth
straight time, 92-85.

Cliff Robinson added 21 points and rookie Pat Garrity chipped in
with 20 for the Suns, who have won five of their last seven
games.

"It wasn't pretty, but it was a win, a win we desperately
needed," Phoenix coach Danny Ainge said. "We looked fatigued,
but we made a couple of runs to hold onto the lead."

Rookie Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed
eight rebounds, while Robert Pack had 17 points and seven
assists off the bench for the Mavericks, who suffered their 11th
straight road loss. They also failed in a bid for their first
three-game winning streak this season.

"This was his (Nowitzki) best offensive game this year," Mavs
coach Don Nelson said. "You can tell the difference in the two
months of work he's done. It's very exciting to watch his
maturity. He's earning his time and playing well and making
strides."

Dallas took its largest lead with 4:01 left in the first quarter
when Gary Trent's free throw made it 14-9. But the Suns went on
a 16-5 tear that bridged the first two periods and grabbed a
six-point lead on a 12-foot jumper by Kidd.

The Mavericks tied it for the final time at 43-43 as Pack made a
layup with 2:24 left before halftime. Phoenix took the lead for
good 16 seconds later on Chris Morris' hook shot and Robinson
followed with a 3-pointer.

"We made some tough plays but at the same time we hit a spurt on
them in the second half, and were able to pull away a little
bit," Robinson said.

The closest Dallas got was three points, the last time with 9:34
left in the third quarter as Nowitzki completed a three-point
play to make it 55-52.

But Phoenix pulled away again, opening a 68-57 advantage on
Robinson's dunk with 4:24 left in the period. The Suns took
their largest lead with 9:08 remaining in the game when a layup
by Kidd put them up 81-66.

"It's not a matter of style points. If you want to call it one
of the ugliest wins, we've got to take it at this point," said
Kidd, who posted his 22nd double-double of the season and is
averaging 20.9 points over his last nine games. "I think the
team is playing well, and that's the most important thing."

Rex Chapman and George McCloud were held to eight points apiece
and Tom Gugliotta scored only seven to go with seven rebounds in
his second game back from a knee sprain for the Suns. They held
an opponent under 100 points for the 13th straight game.

Trent collected 15 points and seven rebounds and Hubert Davis
added 10 points off the bench for the Mavericks, who held a
40-31 rebounding edge but fell to 2-17 away from home this
season.

"We'll get a road win when we deserve a road win," Nelson said.
"We've competed but not done the things consistenly we need to
do to get a road win. I hope that it's going to happen soon."